


The Day After The Future

by nahshise



Category: Dangan Ronpa Zero, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dangan Ronpa Zero Spoilers, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Time Travel Fix-It, apologies and growth, komahina go back in time to prevent the kamukura project, only described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 14:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nahshise/pseuds/nahshise
Summary: When Nagito and Hajime get a mission to go back in time and prevent the tragedy, they take it immediately. Despite how serious their mission is, they still can't help basking in the carefree times of the past. Their minds and relationship have seriously improved since waking up from the simulation, but they know what they have to do: confront a young Junko.





	The Day After The Future

**Author's Note:**

> DR: Zero explains the characteristics of my interpretation of young!Junko, but you don't need to have read it to understand this fic, it just enhances the experience! Hope you enjoy regardless.

The sun was shining brightly, with no clouds to be seen in the sky at all. It almost felt as if Hajime kept staring into that deep blue, he would end up being engulfed forever. Sucked into a sky that no longer existed in his future. Their future.

It was funny to Hajime how that clear blue sky was something so alien to him, although it hadn’t even been over a decade since the tragedy had happened. It was like the only thing he had ever known was the polluted red tinge he saw every day. Being able to see the sky he missed oh so much allowed him to release a breath he didn’t even know he had even been holding for all the years since the Tragedy started.

Nagito noticed the relief on Hajime’s face. It was obvious he enjoyed being back in the world he used to know. The ability to not have to worry about being able to breathe, or when the next Monokuma bot would pop around the corner was something they always took for granted before the Tragedy.

He was happy for Hajime, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly bitter. He still lived in fear of his daily life sometimes, and that would never change whether they were in the past or the present. Hajime had tried to convince him that his fear was unnecessary, now they were together. Now they had both of their luck to rely on. But anxieties never leave the person they trouble. The Tragedy may have changed the world, but Nagito was still unsure whether it changed him for the better or for the worse. Was he still the same person as his teenage self? He didn’t want to think about anything like that... It was time to remind Hajime of the mission they came to accomplish.

—

“Why don’t we make a date out of it?” Hajime asked, eyes dilating while passing by shops that no longer existed, flowers which had gone extinct, and the hustle and bustle of people who weren’t killing each other in the streets. Being able to walk through a whole city without a single dead body showing up was refreshing, and a luxury the two hadn’t been able to partake in for so long. “We could go to a cafe, then the library, and then get lunch, and I’d really love to see this one museum… The paintings in it all got trashed...” He continued for a while.

“Hajime, you know we need to go find Junko,” He hummed while staring lovingly at his boyfriend. “If we spend all day doing whatever we like we won’t be able to find her anymore. The chances of her coming willingly with us are low unless she has no sense of self-preservation.” He looked at the street, with so many cars passing by. Who knew cars would no longer be used? Who knew streets would just become a place to dump bodies? Who knew?

“You know that’s possible. We’re talking about Junko here. It doesn’t matter that she’s only eleven years old. I’m sure she’s already obsessed with despair,” Hajime’s red eye twinkled, “...and I know where to find her already.”

Nagito turned around and spread his arms and grinned, “Of course you do. You’re the 'Ultimate Hope' now, aren’t you?” Hajime blushed at this. “I don’t really identify with that label, Nagito… And now, well, it’s totally meaningless.”

“Reserve course student Hajime, Ultimate Hope Izuru Kamukura... It’s all going to disappear once we’re done here.” Nagito wistfully looked at his boyfriend.

Hajime stared back at him. He took a deep breath and looked away. He watched all the people walking around him, minding their own business, unaware of the fact that the world would end in less than a decade... it was obviously worth it. There was no way it wasn’t. The Tragedy never birthed an ultimate hope, the world just stayed scarred. Future Foundation worked hard every day, but it wasn’t like the world was somehow better off because of the Tragedy. It wasn’t like it was worth going through all that trauma just because there was more hope than despair now! It wasn’t like billions of people dying was worth the hope Nagito desired during his time as a Remnant of Despair. That was something even he understood by now. They both knew now that being able to erase all of that is more important than anything. More important than love or hope or anything else.

“Yeah, it will. So...will you take me up on that date idea?” It’s more important, but...

Nagito laughed sadly, cheerfully, hopefully. “Alright then...of course!

They say Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,  
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

 

—

 

The two of them were holding hands, metal on skin, walking around a random park. It was sunlit and pleasant, with a lake that sparkled as bright as Hajime’s feelings for Nagito. They enjoyed the walk until they sat down at a bench that looked upon that same radiant lake. Nagito laid his head upon Hajime’s shoulder.

“Nagito… Can I ask you a question? I think I understand already, but I want to hear the words from you.” Nagito lets him know for the millionth time he can ask him anything. He promised to be honest - ever since he woke up. “Why... Why did you decide to come with me? To change the future? You realize that if I - if we succeed... all your efforts aiding despair to see a stronger and better hope come out would be pointless.”

Nagito sat up. “It was always pointless,” Hajime nods in affirmation. “I don’t agree with my past self anymore. I suppose I have changed, haven’t I? When I watched the recordings of the killing game after I died...you proved me wrong. You proved Junko wrong. As long as we try new things, even difficult things, everything will turn out okay. Those were your own words, Hajime. I’m chosen to believe in you since I heard those words. If I had really been there - I would have allowed you to completely smash my values, my way of thinking, everything. Maybe there’s no hope inside me. Maybe there’s no hope inside you. It doesn’t matter. If I’m forced to keep living… I’d rather keep moving forward towards the future.”

Hajime’s eyes had started watering. He grabbed onto Nagito tight and hugged him as hard as he could… “A-ah, you’re squeezing me...I’m not sure I deserve this sort of reaction.” Hajime’s face moved closer to Nagito’s, and he whispered, “Of course you do. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to learn that you can have a future. That you deserve to live. That you can start to be happy…You’re worth so much, you’re priceless...” Nagito chuckled a little awkwardly, feeling embarrassed while his cheeks flushed. Hajime cupped Nagito’s face, stroking his cheek with his thumb, and kissed him deeply.

Nagito started to get teary as well. For so long he had felt as if he could never be close to anybody, to be important to anybody. He felt as if his life was completely worthless in every way and the only way he could do anything useful with his life would have been to throw it away. He had no one to ever tell him otherwise. 

As they pulled apart, the two longed for each other even more. They caught their breath, and Hajime ran his fingers through his lover’s hair. “Have I ever told you how handsome you are, Nagito?”

“Quite a few times, actually. But I... I don’t… I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.” Nagito said, with a hint of a smile. Hajime was really happy to hear him make an effort to stop being so self deprecating... The future he worked for truly was coming true. 

“You’re incredibly handsome, and I would never want to be with anybody else.” 

“Anybody? Not even…? Even after we change the future?” They both knew who Nagito meant. 

“Nah. Nobody else. You’re the one I love, Nagito. That will never change. Whether we manage to change the future or not, I’m going to be right by your side the whole way.” Hajime looked at Nagito with so much love it was almost overwhelming. 

“Y-yeah, I understand,” he stammered. “I love you too, Hajime. Even before we got out of the simulation...I really...liked you.” Something about Nagito truly admitting how he felt so brazenly made Hajime embarrassed, despite the fact that Hajime did the exact same thing a minute ago. 

“Yeah...I can’t believe I didn’t realize it back then. I was kinda a dumbass?” Hajime laughed awkwardly. He got up from the bench and extended his hand out towards Nagito. “Come on...we gotta go now. Sadly.” Hajime’s red eye twinkled, and his tone sombered.

Nagito took his hand and got up as well. “She’s around here, actually. I made us sit here to wait for her.” Hajime explained. Nagito did not like the idea of confronting the person he hated most in the entire world, especially not a supposedly innocent version, a child. He did not like the idea of doing anything to a child, if necessary. He did not like the idea of fighting someone who wasn’t on equal terms with him. But they were never on equal terms with Junko in the first place.

 

—

She was right there. Sitting on the swing, slowly swaying back and forth. She didn’t move, except occasionally kick the ground to make sure the swing wouldn’t stop. Despite the fact that she was only 11 years old, it was clear who she was. Her hair was still surprisingly blonde, and her face was the same; albeit a younger version of it. Her clothes were in tatters, ripped in places and extremely dirty as if she had been living on the streets for at least a month. She looked especially bored in such a way that made it seem like she had nothing to be concerned about at all.

Hajime and Nagito didn’t know what to say or even how to react at all. They looked at each other and silently decided that the first thing they should do just walk up to her and say hello. What else could they do?

Nagito was the one who had any experience at all with kids (the Warriors of Hope just another part of the future they hoped to change for the better) and so he came up to her first, with Hajime trailing behind. Junko noticed that he was in front of her, blocking her view of the rest of the kids in the playground (who clearly were avoiding the swings like the plague). 

“Is today the day a pedophile finally decides to come and kidnap me? Or is all you want a picture of my panties?” Junko suddenly interjected like what she just said was totally normal, without even looking up, completely shocking the two men.

“N-No??” They both said in unison. “All we’d like is to talk to you for a little bit. Uh, your clothes seem really dirty. Are you alright? Are you safe?” Nagito asked.

“I’m fine, fine, fine!! It’s not like I ran away from home to test my own limits! How long can I survive with only my own skill set! It’s really fun, you know! Adults don’t understand. Don’t call the police, or do, or don’t, I don’t care...But maybe you should check yourself before you wreck yourself since I don’t think two adult men coming up to a random eleven-year-old is normal behavior.” 

It was just an assault of words on the senses. Nothing about what she was saying made sense. 

But that’s what was expected of her.

“So...you have a skillset? Are you good at analyzing the world around you?” Hajime asked. “By the way, my name’s Hajime, and he's Nagito. As Nagito said, we just want to talk to you for a bit.” Hajime had to shift the conversation in his favor somehow. They had an advantage - great knowledge of Junko...and she had nothing on them.

Junko stared at Hajime’s heterochromatic eyes, and his awkward, slightly nervous smile. She stared at Nagito’s shuffling, and his ability to look at everything except her. It was clear that she was somehow in trouble, that information about her was needed, that these two somehow knew about her analysis talent, and that she could easily run away - and they would let her. She wasn’t going to, not until she knew what was going on.

“Yes, I am just PEACHY perfect at analyzing the world. That’s why I test my ability for how long I can stay homeless before I need to run back to my parents. Being homeless feels awful, and having to run back is so embarrassing… I love that feeling of failure, you know? That feeling when your heart completely sinks to the bottom of the sea? I don’t know why...It’s like, the opposite of gambling. I want bad things to happen, you know? And that’s why I let strange men talk to me in the middle of playgrounds!” She cheerfully added.

“Hey, can you please stop calling us strange? We really need to talk to you, and your uh...love of despair doesn’t seem to be very helpful for your existence as a human being, don’t you think? And hey, what about school? Do you still go despite living on the streets?” Hajime was starting to feel annoyed. Eleven-year-old Junko had nothing on the Junko he knew, the one who caused billions of deaths. The one who put his friends through so much pain, who ultimately caused Chiaki’s death. The one who put every motion in place that led to Nagito’s sacrifice. 

He hates her with all of his being. But he hates Hope’s Peak Academy even more.

“Well, ya see, ya see, of course, I still go to school. Everybody bullies me because I smell terrible and look terrible and have a terrible personality but I just bully them back! Isn’t that fun? And I personally think that yeah, maybe I’ll end up dead sooner or later but wouldn’t that be the greatest worst feeling of all time? Like, finally I’m gone, right? Or maybe not, but I won’t know until it happens? Isn’t that scary! But you know school is so boring, and life is so boring, that all I want to do sometimes is use my talent to bully the world. How would I be able to accomplish that sort of thing...etcetera etcetera etcetera? I’m just...too bored.”

“Because the world is too easy to understand?” Nagito chimed in.

“Yeah...hmm...where’s the Tardis? That British thing?” She smiled.

Hajime couldn’t stop a small feeling of dread from creeping up his spine. “What do you mean, “Tardis”? What are you talking about?” 

“Hajime...the Tardis was the machine from the series Doctor Who used for time travel.” Nagito hurriedly explained to his boyfriend, someone who wouldn’t understand a reference to an English show.

Ah. Hajime’s eyes instinctively widened. “How did you kn-? Wait, fuck. Shit!” His heart sank to the bottom of the sea in that one moment. 

“I didn’t know! I didn’t at all know! But how would you know things about me I haven’t even told Yasuke about! Time travel? Really? Really! Haha!! Oh, I wonder how it works! I need to know I need to know! I need to know right away!” Junko jumped off her swing and giggled hard. Her glee at discovering that something like time travel was actually possible was...unnerving to both Hajime and Nagito. She wasn’t full of despair, she was just happy. The girl even rambled about how she enjoyed despair - but right at this moment, she was happy, and excited even, and hopeful to learn. 

“Junko...You feel happy right now, yeah? Doesn’t that feel good? So why do you try so hard to fall into despair? To make others despair? Why don’t you just realize already...that despair is no more unpredictable than hope is.” Hajime couldn’t just say nothing. He shouldn’t have, but there was nothing anybody could do to stop him from letting his endless questions flow out.

As he did so...Junko’s dancing and jumping and smiling instantly stopped - as if she froze completely. 

“I...I’m happy…? And it felt...g-good.” Her eyes slowly widened. “It’s something...I don’t understand yet.” She blinked. Once. Twice.

“Junko...there will always be things you will never understand, no matter how awe-inspiring your talent is. I learned that the hard way. Ultimate power isn’t infinite, and maybe it was never ultimate in the first place. There are things to look forward to even if the world around you is too easy to understand. Plenty of things are still rewarding even if you do understand them.” Nagito spoke to her in a gentle tone. 

Small, little, and innocent Junko plopped down on the ground. She brought her knees to her chest and looked up at Nagito. 

“I just want to be able to feel good without knowing, knowing, knowing, knowing, I’ll feel good ahead of time. Always knowing. I’m so sick of it. I’m so sick of life.”

“Sometimes the fun of life is knowing you’ll feel good. It’s okay to be able to predict things, and knowledge isn’t bad. But even then, there are still plenty of things the world doesn’t understand yet. Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in physics? The deep ocean? Neuroscience? There are so many things humanity doesn’t understand. Don’t you think you’d be able to have fun, Junko? Don’t you want to discover how we managed to time travel over here?” Hajime didn’t know if what he was saying was getting through to her. But he desperately hopes it was.

Junko stared at Hajime again. It almost felt as if she could see straight through his soul. He wouldn’t be surprised if she could, with her talent.

“I think...you two strange men are actually...right. I never...I was prepared to make things worse around me. There was nothing around me worth protecting, or saving, and me neither too. I guess I could actually...help the world while learning, couldn’t I? But you’re right that there are still some satisfying things to accomplish. It’s not like just knowing how is enough to climb a mountain. You still need oxygen. You still need tools. I...I’m sorry. I’m really…”

“We can’t forgive you. Sorry, Hajime, I’m speaking for you, but I know how you feel already. The things you end up achieving in the future are atrocious and reprehensible. I’m sure you’ve already figured that out by now, why else would we be here, speaking to you? But we accept and acknowledge your apology. The only thing we require from you...is to not make the world end. We know you can find a way to live your life without despair. You don’t need it, Junko. You don’t need to hurt people. You don’t need to hurt yourself,” Nagito glanced at Hajime,” It took me a long time to figure that out myself. But I managed to. And I know you can as well.”

Junko’s eyes started to water. Water and water, until a few tears fell until she began to sob. She said nothing. All she did was cry. Nagito patted her head softly. At the end of the day, was all Junko needed someone to talk to? Someone to treat her with the kindness she didn’t treat herself with? An acknowledgement of the pain she was feeling? 

She eventually stopped. She rubbed her eyes and continued to say nothing. 

Hajime had to break the silence. “We have to go back to our future. It’s probably going to be very different, and who knows if we’ll even be able to remember this. Can you do us one favor?”

Junko nodded.

“We’d like you to use your talent to expose Hope’s Peak Academy for the corrupt school it is. There’s a project that’s going to be started in a few years called the Kamukura Project,” Nagito grabbed Hajime’s metallic hand as he said this, ”The project is an attempt to push every single talent they have researched on inside the brain and body of one regular student. It...It almost destroyed me,” Hajime shivered, “In the future we came from, instead of exposing this and the corrupt school, you instead use the school to create despair, and use that despair to end the world. You know what you can accomplish, Junko. Please choose a world where you can keep learning and exploring and holding onto that feeling of happiness. Thank you.”

And within a blink of an eye, the two strange men had vanished. Leaving Junko to wonder whether or not the whole thing had been a dream...but whether or not it was, it doesn’t matter. She knows what she has to do now.

—

They were still holding hands. It was the future, and they were still together, and they still remembered everything.

That was terrifying and exhilarating, and they needed to check the news right away. But first, they took a look around their surroundings. It was...clean, and pretty, and while there weren’t people around, there were no bodies in the street. No Monokuma bots to be seen. And the air was obviously breathable. 

It was a good sign, but they needed to know more to be sure of what they had done. It wasn’t like they had any sort of phone on them. It would have interfered. So they walked in a random direction, taking in the sights of this new future, and came across a store with televisions playing - their screens showing a news channel. 

The headline said: “Junko Enoshima, president of Future Foundation, finally convicts corrupt Steering Committee for their unethical project to create an artificial ‘God’”.

Junko hadn’t caused the Tragedy.

They found their way back to the apartment they were living in together before their time travel, and it was still there, and the landlord still recognized them. When they grabbed their phones from their bedside table, they discovered that all of their friends were alive and healthy, and happy. Even Chiaki was alive. She was alive. The first thing Hajime did was call her and talk to her. All he did was ask her how she was, and she was fine. All he needed was that bit of small talk for it to truly register within him that their future had changed. For the better. It was kind of a shock seeing how human Chiaki was different from the AI Chiaki he had grown to know so well, the AI Chiaki he mourned. But not a bad shock. He was so grateful she was still with them all. 

They looked through the rest of the news of the last decade. Everything was pretty much the same until Junko got accepted into Hope’s Peak. She spent the entire time trying to dismantle the school. She had used her talents to make the entire school body oppose the Steering Committee, and while that was happening, class 77-B had just spent their time making friends. Hajime had been in the Reserve Course, but the Kamukura Project was discovered publicly before anything bad could happen. The school then had to do damage control, and all Reserve Course students got to keep going to the school for free...

No killing game, no Monokuma… They just got to have the school years they deserved from the beginning. And during that time period?

Hajime and Nagito still fell in love anyway. 

“I shouldn’t have underestimated you. You really meant it when you said you’d be by my side the whole way.” Nagito couldn’t stop himself from embracing Hajime, pushing him to sit down on top of their bed. “You still didn’t believe me at that time?” Hajime exclaimed with disbelief and kissed Nagito’s forehead. “To be fair...it’s pretty incredible. You wouldn’t think all of this would work out so well, would you? It’s like I’m as lucky as you…I must be, right? Considering the fact that I have you as my boyfriend.” 

They kissed, deeply. Nagito lovingly caressed Hajime’s cheek. “I suppose in this timeline you really are just a Reserve Course student…” Hajime laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I don’t care about that anymore, you know? I believe in myself now. I’m...proud of myself. I’m proud of you!” Hajime beamed. It was a smile that could lift up anybody from the depths of despair.  
“That’s not fair...If you say that, I really will never be able to stop loving you…!” Nagito laughed, hard, like the burden he had been carrying on his shoulders since he was a child had finally begun to lessen.

“Hey, Hajime...Do you think this was destiny? Or chance?” Nagito asked, smiling coyly.

“You know it was neither,” he grinned. “We decided to keep living on as ourselves, despite everything, and that determination was rewarded. We created our future together, Nagito. Don’t we deserve it after everything?” He cockily said.

“I doubt it. You don’t even have a talent, Hajime…” He winked.

Hajime murmured in Nagito’s ear, “Oh, I don’t? I’m pretty sure I have a talent for kissing you…” 

“Aha, well you better show me the extent of your talent then....!”

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually made for the 2018 komahina secret exchange, and it allowed me to be extremely self indulgent... I’ve always enjoyed time travel and I hope I did one of my favourite fanfiction tropes justice! It was definitely difficult having to figure out what young Junko would be like but it was a fun challenge! I tried my best ^^


End file.
